American Cunt
Apple Music · 2017
A dark and deadpan hour filmed right before the 2016 election.
Instead of trying to shock with the word in the title, Jena Friedman starts by apologizing for the offensive word, whispering that she actually meant “American.” It is a useful indicator of her general posture: calm and deeply cynical about the cultural and political state of the United States. Her best material works by taking loaded political arguments and reducing them to cold, dark logic. She contrasts the use of gendered slurs against the label “crazy,” pointing out that men call women crazy for over-texting, whereas when men blow up cities and chop off heads, we call them a state.
Filmed at the Slipper Room in Manhattan in August 2016, the special caught Friedman at a transitional moment. A former field producer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and writer for David Letterman, she was working out an hour of political material on the assumption that Hillary Clinton was about to win the presidency. Instead, the special’s release on the streaming platform Seeso in late 2016, followed by an audio release on Inauguration Day in 2017, turned the performance into an accidental time capsule. The material, which includes jokes about Bill Cosby, reproductive rights, and street harassment, is delivered with a flat, detached tone that makes the grim subject matter hit harder.
The set list
-
The literary history of the word 'cunt'
Observes that Shakespeare, Chaucer, and James Joyce all used the word, quipping that women would have too if they had been taught how to read.
-
Rebranding abortion to build broader support
Proposes renaming abortion to 'fetus hunting' or 'early retirement', and calls the death of Antonin Scalia a 'late-term abortion.'
-
Comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler
Dismisses the comparison by pointing out that Hitler served in the military and asking what Trump has ever done to support female directors like Leni Riefenstahl.
-
The phrase 'working moms'
Compares 'working moms' to 'chai tea', noting both pairs of words mean the exact same thing.
-
The political taboos around Hillary Clinton
Notes that to half of America, the only c-word more offensive than cunt is 'Clinton.'
How it plays
- Tone
- Dark, provocative, unapologetically feminist, and satirical.
- On stage
- Dry, dark, and beguiling New Yorker persona who pushes buttons, mocks liberal political correctness, and delivers sharp, confrontational truths with knowing self-deprecation.
- Pace
- Burns hot, keeping up rapid momentum with minimal pauses between punchlines and quick transitions to new setups.
- About
- Feminism and female experience, 2016 presidential election and Donald Trump, Abortion rights, Aging and women's invisibility, Linguistic history of offensive terms
What the critics said
Met with positive reviews; praised as a fierce, button-pushing feminist critique that boldly and hilariously tackled the madness of the 2016 election cycle.
In the room: Modest venue audience engaged in both thoughtful rumination and spasms of shock and belly laughter.
Backstory
Filmed and released prior to the 2016 United States presidential election amidst the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, exploring feminism, reproductive rights, and the prospect of electing the first female president.
Details
If you liked this
-
Ben Bankas Elect This
YouTube
-
Sasheer Zamata Pizza Mind
Prime Video